G4 cancels both X-Play and Attack of the Show

X-Play and Attack of the Show will wrap of production at the end of this year, leaving G4 with... Cops reruns, Ninja Warrior and movies edited for TV. The network will be revamped and rebranded next year, moving "into a more upscale, sophisticated guy TV space." Basically, another Spike TV?

Given that they cut back both of those shows in 2009, the writing's been on the wall for a while now. Ratings are down for the network as a whole. They have to rebrand the channel in order to save it, since right now it is simply dying.

Haha geez. Those are the two best things the channel has to offer, not that it's much, but still, without it, the channel doesn't have much left. Yeah, I think I heard Comcast was going to cancel the channel and rebrand it.

I've never been impressed with AOTS. It's always been immature and obnoxious, and they'd always talk down to the viewers. I miss The Screensavers.

X-Play is good, but when Adam Sessler left, the show was doomed. Now it seems like Morgan Webb is the only original TechTV person left there.

The advancement of Internet TV and sites probably doomed G4 because when those shows began you mainly had more 'static' web sites covering those issues. Now anyone and everyone can throw crazy ---- onto the web.

I really can't say that I'm surprised after hearing of the plan to revamp the network into "a more sophisticated" version of SPIKE TV. I was wondering how they were going to do that while keeping X-Play and Attack of the Show--now I have my answer.

IMO, I thought it was odd that AOTS didn't get a permanent co-host after Kevin left.

I've been watching AoTS and XPlay for years and I'm disappointed to seem them go, though given the so called 'rebranding' that's going to happen, it's not all that surprising. G4 has been steadily moving away from tech/gaming/geek/nerd coverage for a long time and this is just the finally nail in the coffin, which is really a shame. There is/was a lot of talent there, Pereira and Sessler chief among them, and I'm at least interested to see what will happen to the people that still work there...if they'll lose their jobs like back when G4 took over TechTV, or if they'll be kept on to help work in whatever new shows are created....if any are even developed.

Either way, it doesn't instill me with a great deal of anticipation or faith in what they might have in store, given that they're canceling the only two shows I ever watch on G4.

Rather inevitable at this point. I quit watching since I could never figure out when new X-Play episodes were on and the DVR didn't seem capable of figuring it out (despite Comcast owning G4). Sessler was annoying sometimes but he was like the face of X-Play and G4 in all its present and past incarnations for so long that once he was gone it just seemed time to fold it in. (God, I can remember when Kate Botello joined the show and according to the web that was 12 years ago, man....)

Something I realized thinking about this is not only does internet help kill TV but having hundreds of channels and an on-screen guide I don't really "surf" TV looking for shows either. Once something falls off my radar I don't even see the channel anymore even in passing.

There is/was a lot of talent there, Pereira and Sessler chief among them

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You know what's ironic? After Adam was let go, he went to work for Spike. Saw him on the channel during the E3 coverage, and it took me by surprise. Also found their coverage of the event to be more mature.

Somewhere, deep inside, a little voice is shouting, "Yay!" That voice, silent these past 7 1/2-8 years, feels some vindication for what happened to TechTV after Comcast took over.

The other 99% of me stopped caring long, long ago.

While never an avid watcher, I did try to tune into The Screen Savers when I could (seeing as how I didn't get a DVR until the summer of '05, at the time, it was either watch live or tape to VHS). I even remember spending some boring week-ends watching the other shows including Fresh Gear, Call for Help, and X-Play. I also quite enjoyed the short-lived Unscrewed with Martin Sargent.

Haha geez. Those are the two best things the channel has to offer, not that it's much, but still, without it, the channel doesn't have much left. Yeah, I think I heard Comcast was going to cancel the channel and rebrand it.

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Hopefully, it is more than a name change (unlike the Sci-Fi Channel to "Syfy" like that meant anything).

I've never been impressed with AOTS. It's always been immature and obnoxious, and they'd always talk down to the viewers.

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Good call; they always reminded me of a few people I know who work for Comic Con International: they want to act like industry insiders (i.e. high level employees for the major entertainment companies), but they are nothing more than mouthpieces/cheerleaders believing they are "with" the creatives, when that is far removed from the truth. That's the vibe I picked up on from some AOTS hosts over the years.

If the entire channel gets a reboot, I wonder how many former on-air "talent" will end up on HGTV, Spike, or some online show?

Good call; they always reminded me of a few people I know who work for Comic Con International: they want to act like industry insiders (i.e. high level employees for the major entertainment companies), but they are nothing more than mouthpieces/cheerleaders believing they are "with" the creatives, when that is far removed from the truth. That's the vibe I picked up on from some AOTS hosts over the years.

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Yeah, very true. I got that vibe too, though it's most likely the producers that are at the root of the problem, as the hosts have always been consistently annoying. They remind me of some comedians who think they're funny, when in reality they're cluelessly uninformed as to what they're making fun of. What added to that air of superiority was how loud they were. Seriously, it sounded like they were shouting most of the time. Because they can do no wrong when they're shouting, apparently.

If the entire channel gets a reboot, I wonder how many former on-air "talent" will end up on HGTV, Spike, or some online show?

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Well, seeing as Adam Sessler has already went to Spike after he was let go, I could perhaps see Morgan Webb doing the same thing. Maybe they'll do a similar game review show for Spike? With them doing the VGAs every year, it seems like it would be a good fit for them.

I spent a little time over the last few days looking at G4 now and then just out of curiosity.

What an odd channel. I guess the idea of the channel is to cater to young, tech savvy people. But they only have two shows that have any focus on that at all, AOTS and XPlay.

Then they have a lot of shows that don't really seem to cater to a young demo at all. Quantum Leap and Cops seem to be on a lot. Are teens and 20s age range interested in that? With campus cops, are college kids interested in seeing their peers arrested?

Maybe younger people might be interested in Ninja Warrior...

Anyway no surprise that the channel is tanking, I've deprogrammed it and see no point in checking back.

I remembered when I first saw G4, I thought it was kind of cool. Then I realized they did not possibly have enough material to support a channel. When they started adding other content, I kind of appreciated it because I figured it had a chance to make the show viable. But even then, I'd have to be bored and flipping through channels and catch X-Play or else odds are I wouldn't see the channel for months at a time. I think my only thought is they might as well just change the name too because there's no connection at all to the old channel.